Students succeed in Thomas Cranmer prayer challenge

Jonathan and Gabriella represented Norwich School in the competition

Norwich School student Jonathan Wilde, 18, was "highly commended" for his reading in a religious contest.

Competing in the Cranmer Awards national finals, he was praised for his "articulate and meaningful" recital.

The former runner-up of the award read Collect, Epistle and Gospel at a London show on 25 February 2010 from the Thomas Cranmer Book of Common Prayer.

Also taking part from the school was 13-year-old Gabriella Masding who was "well acquitted" with her performance.

"The contestants worked very hard to reach the national finals by winning their diocesan heat," said Trevor Butler, Prayer Book Society spokesman.

"Gabriella's success is notable because this is only the second year in which the independent school has admitted girls below Sixth Form level," he added.

Jonathan Wilde, from Brooke, is no stranger to the competition.

He has competed in the competition several times and was runner-up in 2009.

"The first year I managed to come second and once you know you can come second, you start to take it a bit more seriously," said Jonathan.

Stiff competition

Competition is stiff and Gabriella and Jonathan faced young people from across the country at the finals in London's Charterhouse.

Entrants had to recite, from memory, a chosen passage of around five minutes' duration from Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer. They were then judged on their delivery.

The annual Cranmer Awards are organised by the Prayer Book Society to promote the works of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

The Book of Common Prayer remains the bedrock of the Church of England and the Anglican communion worldwide.

Having launched the first English book of Common Prayer in 1549, Cranmer was later burned at the stake in Oxford in 1556.